Province hoping to increase tourism

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on November 9, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The Alberta government has a plan to substantially grow the provincial tourism industry.

Its tourism strategy has a target of increasing tourism revenue from $10 billion annually to $35 billion a year by 2035.

To achieve that growth, the province on Thursday announced it is introducing to the Alberta legislature the All-Season Resorts Act which it says will incentivize responsible development of year-round destinations, providing visitors and Albertans themselves “more opportunities to stay and play.”

Development of all-season resorts is aimed at attracting billions of dollars in private capital investment to Alberta increase tourism and give Albertans more opportunities to be tourists in their home province.

“By incentivizing the responsible and sustainable development of all-season resorts, Alberta will grow our year-round tourism offerings, bolstering our local businesses, creating jobs, and generating tax revenue. By unlocking the potential of our natural resources above the ground – namely the beauty of our landscapes and the warm hospitality of Albertans – we can continue to diversify the province’s economy and position Alberta as the best place in the world to live, play, and visit,” says Minister of Tourism and Sport Joseph Schow who is the MLA for Cardston-Siksika.

The province has no all-season resorts on Crown lands, says the government while B.C. has more than 13 injecting more than $2 billion annually into that province’s economy.

The province believes development of all-season resorts will increase visitor spending by $2 billion annually and generate an additional $4 billion in the Gross Domestic Product is expected in the first decade of legislation being enacted.

If approved, the province says the Act will “ill establish a clear, straightforward resort development approval process, which will create the investment certainty necessary to attract private capital into the province’s tourism sector. Centralizing these processes within the Ministry of Tourism and Sport will ensure that projects are appropriately prioritized, balancing economic development, the creation of jobs, and environmental protections.”

Under the Act, an all-season resort will be defined as one “offering activities, services, and amenities to the public throughout the year with fixed-roof accommodations on-site, including all infrastructure required to support operations.”